Rotary magazine for weft-replenishing looms.



' PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

M. L. STONE. ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16. 1906.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Mum M20; .Stone PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907. M. L. STONE.

ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WEFT RBPLENISHING LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16,1908.

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I I I Mun mllll" wwvwoae anwwtoz M6ZMILILI.SZO7Z No. 873,467. PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907. M. L. STONE.

ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WBFT REPLENISHING LOOMS. APPLIOATIUN FILED 313.16, 1906.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

L k [QM ///7 Q Q I l (D I q e V i l 0 Smutoz mm Jllelamlds'one PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907.

M. L. STONE. ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WBFT RBPLENISHING LOOMS.

APPLIUATION FILED FEB.16, 1906.

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PATENTED DEC. 10, 1907. M. L. STONE. ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WBFT REPLENIQHING LOOMS.

APPLICATION TILED FEB.16,1906.

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r PATENTEDDEC. 10, 1907. M. L. STONE. ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WBFT REPLENISHING LOOMS.

APP LIOATIUR FILED FEB. 16, 1906.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

l w w PATENTED 1120.10.1907,

. M. L. STONE.

ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WEFT REPLENISHING LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.16,. 1906.

'1 SHEETS-SHEBT 7.

Mum MEZZ JL ILZ xSZOHc? umrnn STATES PATENT, OFFICE.

MELVIN L. STONE, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPER COMPANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

ROTARY MAGAZINE FOR WEFT-REPLENISHING LOOMS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 10, 1907.

' Application filed February 16. 1906. Serial No. 301.406.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MELVIN L. STONE, of Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented-a new and Improved Rotary Ma azine for WeftReplenishing Looms, of W 'ch the following is a specification.

The well-known Northrop loom as commercially used is provided with a rotary ho per or magazine which carries s are we tcarriers, as illustrated in United tates patent of J. H. Northrop, No. 529,940, November 27, 1894. This rotary magazine supports weft-carriers only at its periphery.-

The primary object of the present invention is to increase the weft-carrier holding capacity of such a rotary magazine, so that the refilling of the magazine with fresh weftcarriers need be attended to only at long intervals.

A rotary magazine provided with the present improvement can support sufi'icient weft-carriers to supply the loomfor an entire day without increasing the size of the rotary magazine. By the present improvement, the capacity of the magazine is increased about threefold without any in crease in its size. Obviously, this increases the number of looms which a single weaver can attend. Moreover, it renders it possible to replenish the magazine between closing down of the mill for the night and reopenin it in the morning, so that the weaver nee give no attention to the replenishing of the magazine, and it can be done without interfering' in any way with the work of the weaver. a

The present improvement in connection with the increased capacity of the rotary magazine is also accompanied by an im rovement in the manner in which the we ends are taken care of and also in the manner in which the .rotary magazine is rotated step by step. f T

One embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1, is a view of the outer end of the improved rotary magazine and its support ing bracket, a portion of thethread-guide disk and of the thread-holder being broken away. Fig. 2, is a view looking toward the' further side of the supporting bracket, a portlon' of the supporting bracket being shown in vertical section. v In Fig. 2, the shank 71 of the pawl Q, is shown foreshortened by breaking out a portion to enable the scale to conform to that of the other fi res. Fig. 1, also shows this shank p, as in ig. 2. Fig. 3, is a horizontal cross-section in the plane indicated by the line 3- 3 in Fig. 2, and looking down, a portion of the thread-guide disk and all of the thread-holder being shown in plan. Fig. 4, is a vertical section in the plane indicated by the line 44 in Fig. 3, and looking in the direction of the arrow 4. Fig. 5, is a detail vertical section of part of the magazine and its supporting brackets and lookin' toward the transferrer. Fi 6, is a vertica section in the (plane indicated by the line 66 in Fig. 3, an looking in the direction of the arrow 6. Fig. 7, is a viewrof a portion of the same arts which are illus trated in Fig. 4, but s owin the transferrer in its depressed p'osition. ig. 8, is a detail horizontal section in theplane indicated by the line 88 in Fig. ,4, and-looking down, the magazine not being'shownf Fig. 9, is a detail view of the same parts; which are shown in Fig. 2, their 'posltion being that which they occupy when the transferrer is down and the weft-carrier feeler is maintained partly'uplifted by a Weft-carrier, certain parts ,being also shown in section.

The rotary hopper is supported upon a stationary bracket or framework A, which is adapted to be boltedor otherwise rigidly secured to any fixed part of the framework beam. This. bracket is so located in the usual manner that the rotary ma azine is over the shuttle box at one end 0 the lay when the lay is at front center. This bracket supports, as usual, an oscillatin transferrer B of usual construction whic is moved downwardly in well-known manner to transfer a fresh weft-carrier into weaving position on .theloom when the condition of the running weft demands; and,. after the transfer, it is restored to its normal uplifted position by a usual spring a.

Weft carriers are indicated at O in dotted lines in several figures of the drawings and are of usual construction. The lowermost weft-carrier in the magazine occupies a position immediately. below the normally uplifted transferrer B, as indicated in'Fig. and it is maintained in this position by cuse tomary means, such-as the yielding finger 6, (Figs. 3 and 6) which sgppprts'-the tip of the lowermost Weft-carrier, the yielding spring abutment 0, (Figs. 4, 5 and 8) secured directlyto the bracket A, and the stationary rest at (Figs. 4 and 8) constituting apart of the bracket. When the transferrer descends, the tip-sup orting finger and the spring abutment yie d to permit Zthe; downward discharge of the lowermost weft-carrier. In Figs. 4, and 7, the indicated weftcarriers are not shown in contact with each other, nor with'the abutment c, and rest (1,

in Fig. 4, nor with the rear face of the transferrer B in Fig. 7.

in United States Letters No. 454,810, June 23,1891.

is el E! weft-carrier E, has a-centralsleeve g,.

- dle e, (Fig.

hopper consists of two parallel The inner disk D, supports the butts while the outer disk E, supports the weftcarrier.tips. These disks are mounted to rotate in unison on the bracket "A. To this end, the stationary bracket carries a stationary horizontal spin- 3) upon which. the hub f, of the D, is journaled. 'The outer disk hich is fastened to the hub of the inner disk so as to rotate in unison therewith. Also secured to the hub f, outside of the outer disk, is a holder F, for the weft-ends and a thread-guide disk G, having thread notches h, (Fig. 1) over which-the weft-ends pass on their way from the weft-carriers in the magazine to the weft-end holder.

As thus far described, the mechanism is not materially different from prior rotary magazines.

The first and primary improvement consists in the construction of the rotary magazine so that it may hold an increased number of spare weft-carriers. This increased capacity is primarily due to the new constructron of the outer and inner disks The inner disk D, is' provided with a plurality of butt-holding channels H, and I, (Fig. 4) which are alike except that the channels H, are longer than the channels I. Each chan nel H, and I, is 0 en at the periphery ofthe disk and is close at its end nearest the hub The rotary inner disk Every other channel H, is a long channel,

extendingas far as practicable toward the hub f; whereas, the intermediate channels I, are smaller, but as long as the spaces between the large channels H, will permit. In this way, the maximum amount of the surfa ce accordingly,

D, and E.v

of'the disk D, is occupied by the butt-holding channels. In the specific embodiment of the magazine which is illustrated in the drawings, the disk D, is fourteen inches in diameter and is adapted to receive weftcarrier butts which are one inch in diameter where they enter the channels H, and I. With such dimensions, the disk has ten channels H, and 'ten channels I, and each channel H, holds the butts of five weft-carriers,

while each channel I, holds the butts of four weft-carriers. When the magazine is filled to its maximum ca acity with weft-carriers, two of the channe s are not supplied with weft-carriers since it is necessary to leave room for the transferrer, as is evident from Fig. 4. Accordingly, with the illustrated dimensions, the magazine holds seventy-two spare weft-carriers which, with ordinary numbers of weft, suffices to supply a loom for more than an entire day's work. With larger'sizes of thread, the magazine would preferably be larger so as to hold a larger number of weftcarriers.

Each large channel H, is substantially radial at its inner end. At its outer end, each large channel as well as each small channel I, is curved forwardly, using the expression forwardly to indicate the direction of rotation of the ma azine. Owing tothis shape of the channe are immediately above the transferrer can hold weft-carrier butts in place without the employment of any additional guard, and the frontpart of the magazine is unobstructed and hence available for the ready insertion of the weft-carriers.v At the same time, owing to carriers which are which, for the time being,

held in the channel gravity. The channel called the active is the one whose outermost weft-carrier is immediately beneath the transferrer B, ready to be transferred into weaving position on the loom. i

The outer disk E, has long and short channels J, and K, (Fig. 6) corresponding in number and relative arrangement to the lon and short channels on the inner disk D, the ifference being that the channels J, and K, are of suitable width to receive and p tips of the'weft-carriers. Intermediate between the mouths of the several channels J, and K, the outer disk E, is provided with thread-holding guiding notches 'i, for the weft-ends on their way from the weft-car-' and the riers to the thread 'de disk G, weft-end-holder F. ach long channel J in the outer disk cooperates with'a long channel H, in the inner disk to constitute a long guide-way for a group of weftcarriers in which the weft-carriers may be carried to the active position, and may feed down by gravity when at such position. Likewise each s, the channels which this shape, the weft-* is the active channel, can feed down in said-channel by guide the pair of short channels I and K also constitute a short guide-way having similar oflice and operation.

The shape of the several channels H, I, J

I and K, constituting the weft-carrier guidelevel of the top of the elevated transferrer B,

(Fig. 4) around to the fixed rest (1. This flan e does not, however, interfere with the rea y insertion of the weft-carriers, which are inserted by first lacing their butts in the appropriate channe s H, and I, and then sipping their tips into the open mouths of the corresponding channels K, and J in the outer disk E. The weft-carriers are prevented from falling out through the open mouths of the guide-ways at the descending side of the rotary magazine by means of a fixed curved guard M. This guard M, is secured to the outer face of the flange L,-and extends upwardly fromthe fixed rest d, far enough to prevent any of the weft-carriers dropping out from their guide-ways by gravity. This guard does not necessarily extend all the way across between the disks D, and E. It is provided on its inner face with two ribs N,

and O,-'with which the several weft-carriers.

at the periphery of the magazine come in contact and by which they are supported. The inner rib 0 comes in contact with the butts of the weft-carriers, while the outer rib comes in contact with the body of weft carried by the weft-carrier. The inner rib O, has at its lower end a rising cam Z, (Fig. 7) to carry the peripheral weft-carriers over the fixed stop (1, and against the spring abutment 0, as the magazine rotates.

Prior rotary magazines for weft-replenlshmg looms have been organized so as to rotate forward one step as each weft-carrier is transferred to the loom so as to bring suc-- cessive weft-carriers into cooperation with the transferrer. Obviously, this organization is inapplicable to the present improvement. With the present arrangement, the organization is such that the magazine is rotated forwardly one step only after all of the-weft-carriers occupying one of the guideways have been transferred. Each guideway when brought into active position remains there until all of the contained weftcarriers have been transferred and the stack of weft-carriers in each active guide-way is fed downwardly by gravity. After each active guide-way has been emptied, then the rotary magazine is fed forward one step to bring the next following guide-way into active position, For this purpose, appropriately' controlled mechanism is employed or rotating the magazine step by step after the exhaustion of the weft-carriers 1n the active guide-way. The inner disk D, of the rotary magazine has on its rear side a ratchet wheel P, having as many teeth as there are channels H, and I; in the illustrated in stance, having twenty such teeth. With this cooperates an actuating pawl Q. This pawl is operatively connected with the transferrer B. The transferrer B, has an integral arm m, which extends to the rear side of the bracket, as shown in Figs. 2, and 8, and carries the pawl The pawl has a shank p, extending loosely through a hole in the tr'ansferrer arm m, and is surrounded by a coiled spring 1', which bears at one end against the adjustable head of the shank and at its other end against a washer at the outer face of the arm m. The pawl Q, also has a fulcrum edge 8, which loosely fulcrums upon a bearing seat t, on the rear face of the transferrer arm m. The pawl is thus yielding and loosely connected to the transferrer arm and is capable of rocking on its fulcrum. When the pawl Q, is free to. act, it feeds the magazine one step on the action of the transferrer. When the transferrerdescends, the arm m, and the pawl Q, swing backwardly (to the left in Fig. 2) until the tooth of the pawl.

passes behind the next succeeding ratchet tooth of the ratchet wheel P, whereupon the spring 1*, swings the pawl upwardly on its fulcrum so that the pawl engages the next ratchet tooth and then, on the elevation of the transferrer, the forward movement of the pawl rotates the magazine one step, thus bringing the next pair of channels intoaction. The organization, however, is such that the pawl Q, can engage a fresh tooth on the ratchet wheel P, only when the last weftcarrier in the active guide-way is being transferred into weaving position on the loom. For this purpose, the action of the piawl Q, is controlled by a weft-carrier feeler This feeler R, is located between the transferrer and the disk D. It is fixed to a rock-shaft w, journaled in the bracket A, and extending therethrough. This feeler extends farther back than the transferrer so as to be normally just above the next to the lowest weft-carrier in the active guideway, as shown in Fig. 4. The feeler rockshaft w, at its outer end has secured to it a crank arm 0;, (Figs. 2, and 9) which is connected with the pawl Qby an intermediate link S, this link being pivotally connected at opposite ends to said pawl and crank arm. Now, when the transferrer descends totransfer the lowermost weft-carrier into weaving position, the feeler R, under the influence of the pawl spring 7, descends and feels for the.

I movement is stopped, thus preventing the to engage positions from swinging the pawl sufiiciently the next tooth on the ratchet If, however,

spring 1',

wheel P, as shown in Fig. 9.

the last weft-carrier in the active guide-way is being transferred, then there will be no weft-carrier in the path of the feeler R, to stop its descent and, accordingly, the spring 1', is free to swing the pawl Q, into engagement with the next tooth of the ratchet 1?. Accordingly, under these circumstances, when the transferrer next rises, the maga zine will be rotated one step so a's-to bring the'weft-carrier in the next following guidewa into active osition. Solon however as the active guideway contains spare weftcarriers, the feeler R, will encounter a weftcarrier and thereby prevent .the magazine rotating pawl from acting. I

In connection with this magazine actuating mechanism, there. are some features requiring consideration. The transferrer is constructed in a known manner so as to uphold the stack of spare weft-carriers in the active guideway during the transfer of the lowermost weft-carrier. This is of importance in connection with the action of the feeler R, since the weft-carrier with which the feeler comes in contact is prevented from downward movement under the stress of the feeler. When the transferrer again resumes its normal uplifted position, it is Wholly out of the path of the active stack of weft-carriers so that they then drop down of gravity until supported by the spring abutment c, stationary rest (1, and tip supporting finger b. The transferrer has a fork T, (Fig. 5) at its rear end which is occupied by the shank of the feeler R. This fork is open at the top and closed at the bottom and it not only acts as a guide for the free end of the feeler, but also insures the ascentof the feeler with the transferrer during the feeding of the magazine. Normally, when the transferrer is uplifted, the shank of the feeler bears against the bottom of this fork under the tension of the spring r. The transferrer moves farther down than the feeler and when it returns, the bottom of this fork encounters the feeler and swings it up into normaluplifted position and thus retains the spring r, under tension. In this connection, it will be noted the transferrer elevating sprin a, is more powerful than the pawl control ing spring 1. The ma azine is maintained in its different y means of a spring-controlled roller detent U, (Fi 2) which bears on the sinuous periphery of the ratchet wheel P.

The weft-ends from the stack of Weft-carr ers in each guide-way are all passed in a group 1n one of the thread notches 'i, in the outer tip holding disk and in one of the notches h, in the thread guide disk G, and are .then fastened to the thread-holder F. As

active guide-way, their threads would become slack and, to prevent this, a slick thread l controller V is employed in connection with the group of weftends. Each slack-thread controller consists of a coiled sprin which is attached at one end to the hub of t e thread guide disk G. The other end of this slackthread controller has a hooked end'y, which can be hooked over the group of threads passing from one notch '21, to the corres onding notch h, (see dotted line Fig. 3). hen the group of threads has been arranged in lace, the corresponding elastic slack-threa controller is strained and hooked over the group of threads. Thus, as fast as the stack of active weft-carriers is fed along by gravity, their slackened threads are taken up, by the contraction of the elastic slack-thread controller.

It is obvious that numerous changes can be made in the details of construction with- An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a rotary magazine provided with a plurahty of guide-ways, each capable of holdlng a plurality of-weft-carriers, and each extending from the periphery towards the axis of the magazine.

4. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a transferrer; a rotary magazine provided with a plurality of guideways e'ac capable of hol ing a plu: rality of weft-carriers, the active guide-way being in'position to cooperate with the trans ferrer and the weft-carriers feedingl by gravity in theactive guide-way at eac action of the transferrer; aweft-carrier feeler which feels for weft-carriers in the active guide-way at each action of the transferrer, and which has an additional functional movement when the active guide-way is em ty; and-automatic means governed by. sai functional movement of the feeler to rotate the magazine the necessary distance to bring the next following guideway into active position, the feed of the magazine due to the feeler being always in the same direction. 5. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a rotary magazine provided with two disks each having a plurahty of channels extending from the periphery towards-theaxis of weft-can of the magazine, the channels in one disk being adapted to receive the butts of weftcarriers, and those in the other to receive the weft-carrier tips.

6. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a rotary magazine provided with a plurality of guide-ways, each capable of holding a plurality of weft-carriers and each extending from theeriphery towards the axis of the magazine, t e outer end of each guideway inclining forwardly in the direction of the rotation.

7. An automatic weft-replenishing loom havin a rotary magazine provided with a plurality of guide-ways, each cap able of holdmg a plurality of weft-carriers and each ex' tending from the periphery towards the axis of the magazine, the guide-ways being alternately long and short thereby utilizing the available space of the ma azine.

8. An automatic weft-rep enishing loom having, in combination, a rotary magazine having a lurality of guide-ways, each capable of he ding a plurality of weft-carriers, each extending from the periphery toward the axis of the magazine, and each being open at the periphery of the magazine, and a guard. opposite the descending side of the rotary side of the magazine to prevent the escape of the Weft-carriers from the guideways.

9. An automatic weft-replenishing loom having a lurality of guide-ways, each capable of ho ding a plurality of weft-carriers, each extending from the periphery toward the axis of the magazine, and each having a mouth 0 en at the periphery, and a fixed flange w ioh extends around the magazine at one end only of the magazine, partly closing said open mouths of the guide-ways, thus having, in' combination, a rotary magazine necessitating the endwise insertion of the weft-carriers into themagazi'rie, and aiding in preventing accidental displacement of the weft-carriers from the guide-ways.

- 10. A rotary magazine having a ratchet wheel, a spring controlling pawl cooperating with said ratchet wheel to feed the magazine forward step by step, a Weft-carrier feeler which ascertains the condition of the weftcarri'ers of the magazine, and intermediate connections between said feeler and said pawl, whereby when the movement of said feeler is stopped by the presence of a Weftcarrier in its path the awl is maintained out of cooperation wit the ratchet, but.

when said feeler has an additional movement due to the absence of a weft-carrier in its path, said awl cooperates with said ratchet to feed the magazine forward one ste 1 1, An automatic weft-replenishing loom having, in combination, a magazine for spare weft-carriers, a weft-end holder, intermediate thread guides between the weft-carriers and the weft-end holders over which the threads are carried in groups from the weft witnesses.

MELVIN L. STONE. Witnesses:

GEORGE Ocrrs DRAPER, ERNEST W. Woon. 

